Improvement in revolving fire-arms



A, T. FREEMAN. v

Revolver.

Patented Bec. 9, 1862.

New

New@ @WWW fw MM@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVlNG FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,091, dated December 9, 1862.

To all whom it may concern: Q

Be it known that I, A. T. FREEMAN, of Binghamton, in the county ot' Broome and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Revolving Fire- Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the aecompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which- Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section of the frame of a revolver and a side view of the cylinder and all parts ofthe lock 5 Fig. 2, a horizontal section. ot the frame and cylinder, and a top view of the cylinder axis-pin, representing the latter partly in section. Fig. 3 is a front view ot' the trigger and its appendages. Figs. 4 and 5 are side views of the two portions of the trigger separated from each other. Fig. 6 is a side view of the notched link which connects the trigger with the hammer. Fig. 7 is a side view of the sear. Fig. S is a side view ot' the cylinder-locking dog.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the several flgures.

This invention consists in a certain novel construction of and mode ot' applying the cylinder axis-pin, whereby facility is afforded i'or removing and replacing the cylinder without any danger of losing the pin.

To enable others skilled in the art tomake and use myinvention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the frame, made substantially of the ,usual form, and B is the cylinder, arranged within the frame A in the usual manner.

O O' is the axis-pin, composed of two separate pieces to enable it to be so inserted in the central bore of the cylinder that while it fits loosely therein it cannot drop out in either direction when it and the cylinder are removed together from the frame. The rear piece, C', is screwed into the front piece, O, as shown at a. in Fig. 2, and when the two are screwed together they are equivalent to a solid pin. The front piece, O, is made with a T-head, b, which is no thicker than the rest of that portion of the pin, but long enough to extend all across the frame, and to protrude on the right-hand side thereof and at the right-hand end of the said head there is a tongue, b', Fig. 2, which extends backward a short distance parallel with the pin. rIhe back piece, O', is made with a shoulder, c, and the portion in front of the said shoulder is cylindrical and of a diameter corresponding with the front piece, C; but the portion in rear of the said shoulder, which is also cylindrical, is of larger diameter.. rllhe front portion of the central bore of the cylinder B is made of a size to tit easily upon the smaller part of the pin, and the rear portion of the said bore of a size to t the larger part of the pin, and a shoulder, d, is thus formed around the said bore. The two pieces O and O are inserted into the cylinder separately from opposite ends, and screwed tightly together after they havebeen inserted, and when they are together the head b prevents the pin from being drawn out from the cylinder in a backward direction, and the shoulder c prevents it from being drawn out in a forward direction, but the distance between the said head and shoulder is such as to permit the pin to slide some distance longitudinally within the cylinder. When the cylinder is in its place, as shown in Figs. l and 2, the rear portion of the pin is received in a bearing, h, which is bored in or through the back part of the frame A, and the front portion in a bearin g, provided for it in the front part ot' the frame.

Immediately in front ot' the front bearing a slot, e, is provided in the frame for the reception of the head b of the pin, such slot being long enough to permit the pin to slide forward far enough tozremove it from the rear bearing,v and the t'ront bearing is open on the left-hand side of the frame, as shown atf in Fig. 2, to allow the pinto be withdrawn in a Idirection lateral to the frame. To insert the cylinder into its place in the frame in proper relation to the barrel, the pin is drawn forward as far as permitted by the shoulders c d, which is far enough to bring its rear end within or ilush with the cylinder, and the cylinder and pin are then inserted into the frame from the lefthandside; the head passing through the slot c, and the portion ot' the pin in front of the cylinder passing through the opening f to the front bearing, j'. When the pin arrives in the front bearing it is pushed backward through the cylinder into the rear bearing, and by that means the tongue b is caused to pass outside of the portion ot' the frame in rear of the slot e, as shown in Fig. 2,

and the pin is thereby prevented from being drawn out through the openingfl, and the cylinderis thus secured in the frame.

A small spring (not shown) may be applied in front ofthe pinto hold it back in theabove-described position. When it is desired to take out the cylinder the pin is drawn forward far enough to withdraw its rear end from the rear bearing, h, and to bring the extremity of the tongue b past the rear end ofthe slot c, and the cylinder and pin are then drawn out through the left-hand side of the frame.

D E is the trigger, made of two pieces, which g by being made with a circular joint-cheek,

the piece D, the cheeks being countersunk on opposite sides to let each drop into the other piece and bring the sides of D and E Hush with each other, as shown in Fig. 3. The two pieces are so formed at m n op in front and behind their joint-cl1eeks kl that when they touch each other at m u in front they are separated but a short distance at op behind, in Fig. l, and vice versa, so that each is allowed but a trifling movement independent of the other upon the pin g. The heel i on the lower piece projects a short distance beyond the upperpiece, D, which never interferes with the sear. The upper piece, D, has the revolving dog G attached to its rear part by apin, q, and has also attached to its front part, by a pin, fr, the notched link H, through whichitismadetoeifectthecockingofthe hammer by the pull ofthe trigger, and which is represented separately in Fig. 6. This link H works in a mortise in the piece E. It has provided in it a notch, s, to receive a tooth, t, provided on the lower part of the tumbler or hammer-butt, which has also provided in it the usual notches, 9, for full-cock, and 10 for halfcock, the said tooth being formed by making a recess, t', in the left-hand side ot the hammer. The said link H has also attached to it a spring, u, which presses upon a ledge, u', provided all along the left-hand side of the scar; and this spring tends to press the link upward toward the tumbler orhammer-butt, and to'depress either the front or rear end of /f the sear, according'as it bears upon the ledge u at a point in front or in rear of the pin '0, upon which the sear works.

The scar is in the form of a lever, the front end of which is so situated as to be operated upon by the heel z'/ of the trigger, and the rear end of which has formed upon it the hook w, for entering the cock and half-cock notches in the tumbler or hammer-butt. When the hammer is down the tooth t is deep in the notch s, and the point of the spring u presses upon the sear in rear of the pm c, and so keeps the hook w down clear of the tumbler, the sear then resting upon a fixed stop-pin, rv, secured in the'frame, andthe trigger is thrown far forward of the position shown in Fig. 1, which represents the arm at full-cock, and the surfaces m n ofthe two parts of the trigger are in contact, and the surfaces op at a short distance apart. To cock the piece for deliberate lirin g the ham mer is drawn back by the thumb, and its tooth t is caused to carry forward the link H, and by so doing causes the said link to give the trigger a movement similar to what would be produced by drawing back the linger-piece of the latter, eX- cept that the surfaces m n remain in contact, and this movement of the trigger causes the dog G to move upward and produce the necessary revolution of the cylinder, the dog acting upon a ratchet on the rear ofthe cylinder, as in other revolvers. l

Almost at the commencement of the abo-vedescribed movement of the link H the point of the spring u passes the pin o, and so by pressing upon the sear in front of the said pin causes the hook zo of the sear to press against the tumbler, so that it may drop into the halfcock notch l0, in case the hammer is not brought back to full-cock, or into the cock-notch it' the hammer. The hammer will remain cocked until the trigger is pulled, when the piece D turns on the pinv g, while the piece E is held forward by the link H, as shown in Fig. 1, and the heel iis brought into action on the sear, which is thus removed from the cocknotch, and the hammer is allowed to be thrown down or forward by the malnspringI, which is in a well-known manner.

Ifit is desired to fire quickly by the action of the trigger alone, without cooking, the pull on the trigger iirstmoves the piece D onlytill the surface o is broughtinto contact with the surface p, after which the piece E moves with of thc tooth t, as before described with reference to cooking bythe hammer itself, and previously to this the heel fi. of t-he trigger has come into contact with and raised the front end of the sear and so depressed the hook of the latter that itwill not catch in the full-cock notch 9, and hence the hammer is allowed to be thrown down or forward b'y the mainspring i movement of the hammer and afterward pulling it back again the tire can be' rapidly repeated.

It will be understood that the operation of cooking the hammer and deliberately ring and that of tiring repeatedly by`pulling the trigger are permitted by the construction of the trigger of the twoparts l) and E, having movements to some extent independently of each other, as described, the heel of the trigger in the latter case being permitted to free the sear from the tumbler while the hammer is moved to the position of fL1ll-cocl;,but being permitted to do so in the former case.

K is the cylinder-locking dog, made of the form of a lever having a tooth, 12, on' the upper side of'its front end, and a projection, 13, on the under side of its rear end. This dog or lever is arranged to work below the cylinder on a fixed pin, z, which secures it in a slot in the bottom of the frame Ap L is a spring applied within the frame A, below the front part of the dog to press it upward toward the cylinder, in the exterionperiphery of which there are provided for its reception a series of equidistant notches,14,`cor responding in number with the chambers and occupying such positions relatively to the chambers that when one of the latter is opposite to the barrel one of the said notchesis opposite to the tooth 12 of the dog. The projection 13 on the rear end of the dog is situated over a cam, 15, Figs. 3 and 5, that is formed on the right-hand side oi' the piece Gr of the trigger. The periphery of this cam 15 is of the form of an arc concentric with the pin g with a notch, 16, for the reception of the projection 13 on the rear end of the dog. While the hammer is cocked or the linger-piece of the trigger is held back and a chamber ot' the cylinder'isopposite the barrel, and a notch, 14., opposite the tooth 12 of the dog, the notch 16 ot the cam is opposite the projection 13 of the dog, and the spring L is allowed to force the tooth 12 into the notch 14: and lock the cylinder by the said projection 13 dropping into the said notch 16; but when the finger-piece of the trigger is allowed to move forward the projection 13 is caused to ride up onto the top of that portion of the cam in front of the notch,which holds it up so high that the tooth 12 is depressed to a position in which it leaves the cylinder unlocked and allows it to rotate. The entrance to the notch 16 is rounded in such manner that it allows the projection 13 of the dog to slip in and out easily.

Instead of making the cylinder axispin of two pieces, in the manner described, the piece C being of the full length required for the pin, and the second piece consisting merely of a collar driven or secured on to the rear part of C, after the insertion of the latter into the cylinder the front end of this collar forms the shoulder c and limits the longitudinal movement of the pin.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The cylinder axis-pin constructed of two pieces, C C', with a shoulder, c, a T-head, b, and a tongue, b, and applied in combination with the cylinder and the frame ot' the tirearm, substantially as herein specified.

A T. FREEMAN.

Witnesses:

Pr'rfr HoAnn, S. FLOYD Honun. 

